The 10.8 million people traveling to Montana are bound to produce an impact on Montana’s economy. Recently released figures from The University of Montana’s Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research found that nonresident travel spending directly or indirectly supported jobs in every industry sector in Montana (Table 1). Nineteen percent of the wholesale trade sector jobs, 10 percent of service sector jobs and 12 percent of retail jobs are supported by people who travel to Montana on vacation or business.

Preliminary 2012 estimates show a 5.7 percent increase from 2011 in travel-generated employment to exceed 41,000 jobs for Montana residents. The nonresident travel industry in Montana comprises 6.2 percent of the state’s total employment, making it the fifth largest employer, following just behind construction, which contributes 6.4 percent of total employment (Table 2).

“These numbers show that the large dollar amount of $3.2 billion dropped in our state by nonresident visitors supplies many jobs beyond the typical travel job of hotels, restaurants, airlines and gas stations,” said Norma Nickerson, ITRR director. “In fact, 17 percent of Montana’s workforce has personal income that is partially or entirely due to travelers visiting our state. These are Montanan’s working in positions such as finance, construction, agriculture, information technology and more.”

“Since the travel industry is not one distinct industry, there are challenges in measuring its economic impact,” said Kara Grau, assistant director of economic analysis at ITRR. “But economic modeling software allows us to estimate the ripple effect of nonresident spending among all the industry sectors it supports.”

Nonresident spending also contributes to Montana’s tax revenue. In 2012, 8.1 percent of Montana’s state and local collections were produced by people from outside Montana, totaling $294 million in tax contributions. Nonresident travelers contribute to the tax base through the payment of excise taxes on items such as gasoline and alcohol. They also support industries that pay corporate taxes and whose workers’ pay income, property and other taxes.

According to the U.S. Travel Association, tourist spending in Montana equals to $3,192 for every person living in the state. This ranks Montana sixth in the nation for per capita spending by travelers (Table 3). Montana ranks 41st in the nation in terms of travel spending in the state.

1 Nonresident travel employment figures are ITRR estimates based on expenditures. Travel is not an isolated industry since activity associated with travel is part of other sectors. ITRR has estimated the impacts of nonresident travel to various sectors and subtracted those impacts from the affected industries’ employment figures to avoid double-counting.